In my experience, the most successful SEO campaigns are when the site owner or marketing manager is just as invested in the long-term success of their SEO as their SEO firm is; and this means getting your hands dirty! Too often site owners think that outsourcing their SEO means they get to wash their hands of it. While outsourcing your SEO does take most of the responsibility off your shoulders and into the hands of an expert, it doesn’t mean that you can afford to ignore SEO internally! Your SEO partner can do an immense amount of work to help your site succeed, but there is always room to do a little bit more and that’s where the site owner needs to step up and get involved. Here are 3 things the site owner should do to help their SEO internally:
1. Keep the content (or topics) coming.
If you agreed to handle the content creation in-house then you need to actually produce the content! Writing one blog post every 6 weeks isn’t going to do much for your SEO, so you want to aim for consistently. If you can’t write one post every day then just stick with one a week for now. Content is what really drives SEO and social media and the more content you create the more your SEO provider can do with it.
If you’ve also outsourced your content creation to your SEO partner then you might need to help them with topics. You know your industry backwards and forwards so if you see something that you want them to write about let them know! What questions do your customers have? What’s the breaking industry news? Keep your finger on the pulse of your industry and keep your SEO partner in the loop so they can produce the best content for you.
2. Don’t be afraid to find links on your own.
If you stumble upon a great link building opportunity than don’t be afraid to take advantage of it! Sometimes industry sites require a company address to create a profile or get the link, so you’ll have to do the reaching out on your own behalf. If you find a great local event to sponsor (and get listed on their website) than run with it; keep an eye out for guest blogging opportunities, sites to launch profiles/listings, places were your target audience is involved and more. If you have questions about a potential link building opportunity don’t hesitate to ask your SEO provider about it—they can help ensure you’re building the best kind of links.
3. Implement onsite SEO recommendations.
I’ve worked with several clients over the years that don’t bother to implement the onsite SEO recommendations my team has put together for them and 3 months in they want to know why their site isn’t doing better in the SERPs. At the end of the day they are just recommendations and you have the ultimate say in what is and isn’t implemented on your website, but if you don’t actually make any changes why should your site perform differently? If you don’t understand or agree with a particular recommendation then you have every right to ask your SEO provider about it, but remember that they are on your side! Their recommendations aren’t an attack on your business or your website; they are just ways to help your brand do better from an SEO standpoint.
Even when you outsource your SEO you are still partially responsible for your long term success. Your SEO provider is going to do everything in their power to help your site do well in the SERPs, but two heads are always better than one! By keeping your eyes on SEO (even if it’s only part time) you’re much more likely to see the kind of result you’re hoping for.